This request for R13 support will provide, in part, the means to hold a scientific and patient-interactive conference on rare bone diseases. It will be entitled "1st Advances in Rare Bone Diseases, (ARBD-1)" and will occur in Bethesda on the NIH Campus on 23- 24 October 2008. The objectives of the conference are (1) to examine the latest advances in basic, translational, and clinical research relating to a series of genetic bone diseases (2) to understand how recent advances in science may be applied to the areas of bone biology and clinical osteology (3) to allow selected trainees and junior faculty to present their relevant work to an audience of experts in the field, (4) to have an interested lay audience interact with scientific and medical experts in these bone diseases, and the pharmaceutical industry involved in bone and orphan diseases and (5) to forge new areas of understanding and need for research and therapeutics. Invited experts and attendees will represent diverse disciplines that include genetics, molecular biology, nanobiology, endocrinology, rheumatology, nephrology, gastroenterology, nutrition, exercise physiology, orthopedics, radiology, anthropology, immunology, cell biology, and biomechanical engineering, among others. The conference co-directors, and sixteen established, international bone investigators serving as the Program Committee have developed a 2-day scientific program that includes overarching plenary lectures, directed state of the art presentations, invited lectures from the Food and Drug Administration, the pharmaceutical industry involved in orphan diseases represented by rare bone diseases, and Hot Topic discussions for seven specific disease entities. The National Institute for Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, along with the Office of Rare Diseases, has endorsed this application and granted permission for its submission. This request for R13 support will provide, in part, the means to hold a scientific and patient-interactive conference on rare bone diseases. It will be entitled "1st Advances in Rare Bone Diseases, (ARBD-1)" and will occur in Bethesda on the NIH Campus on 23- 24 October 2008. The key objectives of the conference are to provide the latest research and clinical information on rare diseases affecting the skeleton and to extend and further develop partnerships between the research community and lay organizations dedicated to serving patients with these diseases. Both the FDA and corporate scientists will participate in this exchange. Additionally, this conference will facilitate transfer of the latest technology from the biomedical research community to investigators working in the rare bone disease field. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]